The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1887-05-28
TEMPERANCE READING.
GREAT BRITAIN.
What Has Come and Is Coming Out OF
the Temperance Agitation.

thirty three million people was $780,
900, 900, or $50, 900, 600 more than the
estimated bill of our fifty-fve million
people,! Had this rate of expenditure
continued, England's bill last year
would have been 1906, 100000. Instead
of this, it was but S7O5, 900, 900. So
much for financial statistics.
This decrease in the consumption of
liquor has been due to the increased
number of total abstainers Wine
drinking is no longer a matter of
course, and the churches, especially
the dissenting churches, are taking
hold of the Temperance question as
of the first Importance in their relig-
ious work. Even in Scotland, so IA
nous for its drunkenness, this is being
done. In the April Forum Rev.
John Snyder says that the Free Church
of Scotland "has one thousand and
thirty-iive congregations, and among
them five hundred and fifty of the min
listers, seven-eighths of the theological
students, and large proportion of the
Christian workers are total abstainers.
The like is true of the Presbyterian
Church in Ireland" In England and
Wales it is only the "highest' and the
lowest grades of society which have
failed to be affected by the total alb
stinence agitation. The army of tee
totalers is estimated at three millions.
The tradespeople and the better class
of artisans are profoundly in sympa-
thy with the agitation, and as these
constitute the backbone of the Liberal
party, that party is becoming more
and more strongly committed to Tenn
pcrance legislation. In the campaign
of 1880 the Conservatives protested
against the local-option declaration of
the Liberals, and plead for the ''liber-
ty of the poor man to his beer"
Through their support of the Estab-
lishment they retained the allegiance
of the mass of the Church of England
clergy and a campaign was fought
with "Beer and the Bible" as a cry
word. However, the campaign was
'ilA uLohNNCS9lul Ollts anu lllc NcSlttl
rights of the Establishment were only
injured by their association with the
vested rights of the innkeepers. Since
the suffrage has been extended it has
been found that the newly-enfranchised
voters are, rs class. the most deter
mined in their opposition to the sa-
looms. The cause of local prohibition
has been advancing with enormous
strides. A 'plebiscite" on the liquor
question Just taken in Glasgow result
ed as follows: There We're II, 246
householders in favor OF the people
having complete control of the liquor
traffic by their votes, and $685. against;
81, 704 were in favor of entire prohibi-
ton, and 19,411 against; 71,427 were
favorable to reduction in the present
number of licensed houses, and 1881
against; 6S,302 were opposed and H.
235 not opposed to all new licenses.
Such startling and overwhelming
anti-saloon majority as this will prob
ably lead to the conversion of q great
number of the 'leaders" of political
opinion.
A recent supplement to the Chris
tan Commonwealth, publishes an al
most complete list of the present men,
bers of Parliament, with their positions
upon the subject of local option. The
members are divided into three classes.
The first class comprises the names of
all the members of the House of Com
mons who have declared in favor of
giving the people power to control or
abolish the liquor traffic by direct
vote. This IS commonly known as the
Direct Veto. Its Parliamentary sup
porters number over one hundred and
sixty. Among them are John Morley,
A. j. Mundella, jesse Ceilings, W. o.
Caine, Charles Bradlaugh and Henry
Labouclrere Bradlaugh and Labouch-
ere represent the radical working-men
of Northampton, and their support of
this measure is therefore one of the
signs of the times.
The second list gives the names of
all those NJ. P's who are in favor of
local option in some modified and re-
stricted form. They wish the will of
the people to be expressed, not directly,
but through boards representing the
people. Here we find more than a hun
dred names more; among them Joseph
Chamberlain, John Bright and Sir
William Harcourt. The third list en-
braces the members who are opposed
to Direct Vote and local option, and
therefore presumably hostile to all at
tempts to deal with the liquor traffic
by Legislative enactment. This list is
less than one hundred larger than the
other two combined. 1t includes Glad
stone, Parnell, Harrington. Churchill
and most of the Conservatives Some
of these men are probably not opposed
to local option, but do not wish to
have to many fights on their hands at
one time. For instance, Mr.. Gladstone
in his speech in the House of Com
mons, March 5, 1880, uttered these
often-quoted words: at has been said
that greater calamities are inflicted on
mankind by intemperance than by the
three great historical scourges-war,
pestilence and famine This is true
for us, and it is the measure of our dis